July 6:The main staff, Kondo-san, Yoshida-san, art staff and Inamura-san went to XXX (somewhere) for location hunting on the next film, and joined Miyazaki-san who came earlier. They went around the places Miyazaki-san recommended. According to them, although they had doubts, the small coffee shop on a mountain was good.

July 18:The preparation room (for next film) that had been set up onthe second floor of Nibariki moved to the second floor of the first studio of Ghibli.Though the beginning of animation production is a little more ahead, the imageboards put around the main staff's desk make us feel that we gradually rushing into the production of next film.

July 21:After checking DLP at Kobe, and after having taken the catnap at a hotel, we went to XXX for location hunting. We joined Takeshige at the XXX station and went to the mountain where XXX is able to be commanded.Though we went to the place where Miyazaki-san recommended, we were not able to see the panorama of XXX because of the mist. We also stopped in the mysterious cafe on the mountain where the staff who had gone to location hunting in the beginning of this month mentioned.This cafe seems to be managing by an elderly couple, and looks old. It was a very open-hearted place where stray dogs and cats freely roam in and out in the shop.After we had a dinner at the hotel, we strolled in the town of XXX at night.

July 22:Today, we got up at 5am to do location hunting of XXX at daybreak. The scenery of the sea changing little by little at the sunrise was so beautiful.

Thanks to Jordan Scott, Tom Maughan, and Yasser Sheikh for the updates.

August 6, 2006 Miyazaki Meets Le GuinAccording to Goro's August 6 diary, he and Suzuki arrived in Portland, Oregon at 8:30 am on the 5th. They showed "Gedo Senki" to Le Guin on the afternoon of 6th and had dinner together.

Goro mentioned "It is terrible that tomorrow comes."

Thanks to T.Ishikawa for the news.

August 4, 2006 Additional Somerset House DetailsSelected text from the press release, Howl's Moving Castle airs on August 16:

Film4 Summer Screen returns for nine nights in August, transforming the magnificent 18th century courtyard of Somerset House into a full-scale, open-air cinema with state-of-the art giant screen, 35mm projection and surround-sound.

This year's outdoor experience brings together everything you love about films, with a line-up of classic thrillers, amazing flights of fantasy, crowd-pleasing comedy, chilling horror and astonishing alien action. Relax and soak up the atmosphere with good food, drinks and DJs before the film.

Tickets: 12.50

All web and phone bookings carry a 1.75 transaction fee per booking, not per ticket

No glass or bottles allowed on site

Doors 6.30pm; DJs from 7.30pm; Film 9pm

Rugs available to buy or bring your own

Tickets: Ticketmaster 0870 4000 603

Book on-line: www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Thanks to Cathy Gallagher for the news.

August 3, 2006 Reminder: Miyazaki Films on FilmFour Starting 4 AugustA list of the films being shown over the next two weeks can be found here.